The crime of war: from the Nuremberg trial to Ukraine

Eighty years on from the start of the Nuremberg War Crime Trial in November 1945 we ask what is the future of the crime of aggression after the creation of the ICC in 1998 and the Ukraine war?

At this event, Claus Kress, a leading German academic, judge and currently Special Adviser to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court on the Crime of Aggression, will be in conversation with Gerry Simpson, a legal adviser at the ICC negotiations in Rome and at the UN and a professor of international law here at LSE. They will discuss the prospects for international law and the crime of aggression after Ukraine and in the light of the historic first international trials of war criminals at Nuremberg.

Meet our speaker and chair

Claus Kress is a professor of international law and criminal law. He holds the Chair for German and International Criminal Law and he is the Director of the Institute of International Peace and Security Law at the University of Cologne. In 2019, he was appointed Judge ad hoc at the International Court of Justice in the Case of the Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (The Gambia v. Myanmar). Since 2021, he has been serving as the Special Adviser to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court on the Crime of Aggression.

Gerry Simpson holds a Chair in Public International Law at LSE. He is the author of Great Powers and Outlaw States and Law, War and Crime: War Crimes Trials and the Reinvention of International Law. His most recent book is The Sentimental Life of International Law. Gerry is now writing a book on the Cold War and a meditation on nuclearism entitled: The Atomics: My Nuclear Family at the End of the Earth. Gerry is a Fellow of the British Academy.

More about this event

Join us on campus or register to watch the event online at LSE Live. LSE Live is the home for our live streams, allowing you to tune in and join the global debate at LSE, wherever you are in the world. If you can't attend live, a video will be made available shortly afterwards on LSE's YouTube channel.

(@LSELaw) is one of the world’s best schools. In the UK, it was ranked third by The Complete University Guide in 2025. In the QS World University rankings for 2025, the law school was ranked sixth (out of 200 worldwide). We strive to accomplish excellence in all of our endeavours, helping students, alumni and staff to achieve their full potential in everything they do.

Hashtag for this event: #LSEEvents

Join our mailing list

Sign up to receive email updates from LSE Events including the latest news and event announcements.

From time to time there are changes to event details so we strongly recommend that if you plan to attend this event you check back on this listing on the day of the event.

LSE holds a wide range of events, covering many of the most controversial issues of the day, and speakers at our events may express views that cause offence. The views expressed by speakers at LSE events do not reflect the position or views of the London School of Economics and Political Science.